The House Financial Services Committee advanced legislation last week designed to prevent data breaches like the one that impacted millions of Americans last year.
The Committee said H.R. 6743, the Consumer Information Notification Requirement Act, is among the recently approved 12 pieces of legislation crafted to improve the lives of Americans and protect financial institutions. It was introduced by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO).
“Protecting the privacy of the people of Illinois and preventing data breaches is an important priority of mine,” Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL), a member of the Financial Services Committee, said. “After last year’s data security breach at Equifax, it was clear that reform and a national standard are crucial to protect consumers. I hope the Senate passes these crucial reforms before adjourning for the year and provides closure and peace of mind for those impacted by last year’s breach.”
The bill would provide a national standard for financial institutions around data security and breach notification on behalf of consumers, setting consistent, scalable standards for businesses that handle sensitive personal data and establishing what they must do to protect that data.
Another feature of the legislation is that it also creates steps entities need to take to notify regulators, law enforcement and victims after any breach exposing records of 5,000 or more consumers.